Robert S. Root-Bernstein

This is a fascinating overview of the scientific basis and potential benefits of such folk remedies as honey-sugar wound bandaging, geophagy, circumcision, maggots, wound-licking (even cross-species!), leeches, and more. I wish the section on quackery was more in depth, but the section on how the economics of health care in American means low-cost and proven folk remedies can never be offere on scale as their is not the profit possibility to support approval. One potential example is show more Dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB), a chemical used in color photography processing, that could be beneficial to those dealing with AIDS. show less

Interesting information, but watered down at most times and overly preachy at others. I understand that old remedies are the basis for modern medicine and that sometimes today we do things medically that are just as baseless as the "ancient" or "old-wives tales" - but that doesn't necessarily mean we should stick to the old ways.

The author's attempt at defining the science/medicine behind the tales was a nice start. What I'd like to have read was more than a start. Plenty of authors have show more successfully melded difficult to understand facts with entertainment. This was more of a light read, which unfortunately left me wanting more. show less

I think I mentioned this in one of my earlier posts, but this book is *super* heavy on research and interviews, which I wasn't expecting. There are some portions that are pretty hard to wade through, but the last chapter really redeemed it for me.

Can someone please explain to the author how puns work? Because he keeps trying to make them but misses so wide it actually creates a whole new humourous category.

Otherwise rather poorly written review of a selection of natural remedies. Also contains a somewhat deranged chapter about circumcision. Maybe, like with the (not)puns, you have to be American to get it.